Babylon

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Allegations: Virginia Jibowu is suing King's College medical school for £5.5m

A former medical student suing her college for £5.5 million was bullied by racist colleagues now practising in the NHS as doctors, a court has heard.
Virginia Jibowu, 27, claims that a string of white students harassed her, with one woman student attacking her and that she was told to grin and bear casual racism.
Another female student allegedly suggested introducing a killer disease into Africa to wipe out all the blacks.
Miss Jibowu, who is of Nigerian origin, alleges that she missed out on a career as a doctor after a sustained campaign of abuse at London's King's College medical school.
She alleges that the college ruined her career by trying to ensure she failed her course and then expelling her.
She is suing the college, which is part of the University of London, for failing to prevent her having to study in a hostile and humiliating environment.
Miss Jibowu says that the college refused to investigate many of her allegations of racism.
She yesterday kicked off her claim against the college for harassment, race discrimination, victimisation, negligence and breach of contract at Central London County Court.
Miss Jibowu, of Lambeth, south London, is seeking £5.5 million in damages for loss of career earnings, injury to feelings and reputation and punitive damages.
In legal papers submitted to the court she said: All of the alleged racists are now practising as doctors in the NHS.
This ingrains the problem of institutional racism within the medical practice.
They were not interviewed.
At no point has the college accepted that it was at fault for allowing an institutionally racist and victimising, hostile studying environment to exist. Miss Jibowu's mother Anne Giwa-Amu gave evidence today of her daughter's college ordeal.
Miss Jibowu says she was forced to enrol on the college's six year extended medical degree course for students from disadvantaged backgrounds in September 2002.
She says that students on that course had to wear a special badge, which led to them being bullied by counterparts on the regular five year degree programme.
Company director Ms Giwa-Amu said: She was devastated when she discovered that she was being unfairly sidelined on an experimental course because she was at Lambeth College.
Virginia told me that she was being subjected to racial harassment by groups of students at King's College.
She tolerated it in order to fulfil her ambition of qualifying as a medical doctor. During clinical groups, Miss Jibowu was warned to expect casual racism from staff and patients and told to grin and bear it, the court heard.
On a hospital placement in Hastings in 2006, a woman student allegedly suggested introducing a virus in Africa to kill off the Africans so that the whites could move in.
Ms Giwa-Amu said: I was horrified that a person with such extreme views would be on the medical programme. The court heard that Miss Jibowu's male clinical partner bullied her.

Prestigious: King's College, London, is where Miss Jibowo was a medical student

Ms Giwa-Amu said: She complained that he was always touching her, which she objected to. I advised her to move away from him, which she did.
This appeared to infuriate and incite him even more as Virginia informed me he was instigating other students to harass her. He also allegedly asked her if black men were less intelligent than whites.
On a flight to a placement in St Lucia in 2007, a female student allegedly booked a seat for Miss Jibowu away from the rest of their group. Once in the Caribbean, the woman called her a 'bitch', said it was impossible to tell if Miss Jibowu was tanned and deliberately stamped on her foot, injuring her toe, the court heard.
Another female student is said to have picked up flies and debris off the floor and dusted her hands above Miss Jibowu's food as it cooked on a stove.
Miss Jibowu had to move out of the group's accommodation to avoid being harassed by them.
But on her return to the UK, Miss Jibowu was allegedly warned by college chiefs that they would not look favourably on her making a formal complaint about the other students. Ms Giwa-Amu said that management were more interested in a cover up than investigating her daughter's complaints of racism properly.
Miss Jibowu was removed from the course in December 2008 after being failed in her final exams and then suffering a leg injury that left her on crutches while working at King's College Hospital.
Miss Jibowu had passed the first five years of study without failing any assessment and fully expected to complete her final year.
The college strenuously denies all Miss Jibowu's allegations.
It insists that it investigated her claims properly and that she failed her final exams because she was not up to scratch.
In legal papers submitted by it to the court, it says: The college is committed to the fair treatment of all individuals.
Further, the college has given due and appropriate attention to those matters about which Miss Jibowu has formally complained to the college.
The case continues.